At every morning shootaround, even during pregame warmups, often at the end of practices, San Diego State players launch midcourt shots.
This is why.
Miles Byrd drained one as the regulation clock hit 0:00 Tuesday night at Viejas Arena to improbably force overtime against Troy, but it still wasn’t enough to beat the pesky Trojans in an absolutely bonkers 108-107 double overtime loss on a night filled with hope (the return of Magoon Gwath) and ultimately despair.
Troy entered the night at No. 135 in the Kenpom metric, a brutal nonconference home loss in a game where SDSU paid the Trojans in the high five figures for visiting Viejas Arena without a return date — the kind of loss that keeps you out of the NCAA Tournament.
And the schedule doesn’t get any easier. If the Aztecs can’t beat a team picked to finish fourth in the Sun Belt Conference at home, what’s going to happen Monday when they face No. 7 Michigan on a neutral floor in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas?
Or Oregon there a day later?
Or another likely power conference opponent on Wednesday or Thursday?
A scheduling quirk left nine days between games for SDSU, an eternity this early in the season, leaving the Aztecs as the only team among the 365 in Division I that had played just twice so far.
They looked like they hadn’t played in 90 days. Or maybe 900.
An Aztecs team that is one spot out of the Associated Press top 25 trailed by 14-2 out of the gate and still by 12 deep into the second half against a Troy team coming off losses at Loyola Marymont and CSUN, unable to stop its five-out, pace-and-space offense even after seemingly half its roster fouled out and the other half was dragging so fatigued it could barely stand.
A 3-point play and a corner 3-pointer by Gwath halved the 12-point deficit and gave the Aztecs a chance with three minutes left in regulation. But after Taj DeGourville bricked a pair of free throws with 1:25 left and turned it over down on a baseline inbounds pass with 8.6 seconds left, it looked grim.
They were down three after Troy’s Thomas Dowd made one of two free throws with 2.7 seconds left. The inbound pass went to Byrd, who took a couple dribbles and launched a left-handed shot from the spear logo at midcourt.
Swiiiiiiiiiish.
Miles Byrd #21 of San Diego State shoots a 3-pointer to send the game against Troy into overtime at Viejas Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
MILES. BYRD. pic.twitter.com/yIPiBwFN6D
— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) November 19, 2025
As much as the reactions from both benches indicated otherwise – elation at one, head in hands at the other – it wasn’t over. In fact, after leading by four, the Aztecs still needed a bank shot by Reese Dixon-Waters in the closing seconds to force a second OT.
The Aztecs led by four again but went cold and found themselves down one with ball with 15 seconds left. A 3 by Byrd missed. Sean Newman Jr. grabbed the rebound, but his desperation attempt to beat the buzzer was blocked, and soon the Trojans were spilling onto the floor in unbridled euphoria as the remainder of the Viejas Arena crowd silently filed out.
The Aztecs looked discombobulated for much of the night, missing free throws, firing a lob pass off the rim, turning it over against the press, getting beat backdoor, letting a ball roll around on the floor with no one diving on it, grabbing the rim for defensive goaltending on a missed Troy layup.
And simply helpless, despite entering the night No. 9 in Kenpom defensive efficiency, to stop a team that managed just 64 points against Furman and 63 against Loyola Marymount.
Gwath was as advertised despite only being cleared for full contact less than two weeks ago following April knee surgery. He finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 21 minutes off the bench.
Byrd added 24 points, Dixon-Waters had 16 and BJ Davis had 15, but 20 turnovers and 14 missed free throws were their undoing.
Points off turnovers: 29-15, Trojans.